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Osteria 166 donating meals to Latino seniors

facebook.com/LosTainosSeniors

Residents of two Latino senior citizen homes on Buffalo's West Side will get meals Friday from one of downtown's most popular restaurants.

Meals from Osteria 166 on Franklin Street will get to Los Tainos Senior Citizens Center and Lakeview on the Park, both on Trenton Street.

The event is being coordinated by the Western New York Hispanic American Veterans Memorial. President Ventura Colon said the residents have been cooped up because of the social distancing rules and many have mobility and health issues which limit their ability to get around, even in the best of times.

"Our medical advice has been for us not to be out into different activities in the community or anywhere where we could place ourselves in harm's way," Colon said.

Hispanic Heritage Council President Casimiro Rodriguez says Osteria owner Nick Pitillo has donated meals to a variety of groups since the national quarantine began and he called Pitillo, who agreed to donate hundreds of meals to the two centers.

"It's very difficult for them and this is just an affirmation to them and a confirmation to them that they've got folks in the community that are looking out for them, that have their best interest in mind [and] want to make sure that they are okay," Rodriguez said.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.